Caster



W. H-. NOELTING.

CASTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 6.1920.

Patented July 5, 19:21.

INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

v and like furniture,

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. NOELTIN G, OF EVANSVILLE, INDI ANAI T '0 all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WIL I H. NOELTING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Evansville, county of Vanderburg, and State of Indiana, have invented a certaln new and usefulCaster; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying draw1ngs,.1n which like numerals refer to like parts.

.This inventionrelatesto .a caster for heavy objects such as The chief. object of the invention is to provide a caster for heavy furniture which is constructed of but few parts which are designed and formed and so positioned that the same cooperate to support theload.

The chief feature" of the invention consists in forming the yokeso' that the upper portion thereof is reinforced in an improved manner and. the apron thereof shaped so as to resist strain.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing a lubricating chamber in, the

stem head receiving port-ion of the socket.

Afurther feature of the invention consists in providing non-circularwasher means associated with the non-circular receiving yoke for securing the caster stem to the caster yoke which greatly reinforces the same.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

F igure 1 is acentral sectlonal new of a caster embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same showing two features of the invention in detail. -Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the invention showing a third feature of the invention in detail. Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the invention. c 1 r In the drawings 10 indicates the usual caster roller rotatably supported upon the.

axle or shaft 11, which in; the present instance comprises a rivet- -The'rivet 11 is rotatably supported by a yoke 12 from which there extends downwardlyapair of ears 13, on the lower end of which is supported the shaft or axle 11. The body portion 12 is preferably formed non-circular and in the present instance is shown rectangular or substantially square in outline. Depending Specification of Letters Patent.

pianos, refrigerators each other and lie in Patented July 5, 1921.

Application filed July 6, 1920. SerialNo. 394,256.

from the sides of the yoke between the substantially parallel'and' depending ear portions are flanged portions 14 and'15, 1 1 indicating therear flange and 15 the front or forward flange. Thus the flanges 14 and 15 are positioned upon the yoke 12 with respect to the ears 13 to provide a substantially rectangular chamber or recess 16.

The caster stem 17 is substantially cylindrical in form and near its lower end is provided with a bearing plate or flange port on 18, against which the yoke body portion 12 is adapted to bear. The stem 17 extends through a'central opening 19 in the yoke portion, and upon the other end is positioned the washer 20, said washer being secured to said chamber by means of the free end portion 21 formed by upsetting or welding or otherwise enlarging the other end of the stem 17. clearly in 3 as substantially rectangular in form and corresponds to the rectangular chamber or recess 20 into which it is received. Thus the washer is non-rotatably positioned within the yoke and adjacent the same. The bearing surface between the yoke 12 and the washer leis provides additional bearing surface therebetween. are secured together non-rotatab1y.

As shown clearly in Fig. 1 the axis of the caster. stem 17 and the axis of the roller supporting shaft 11 are at right angles to different parallel planes. Thus the strain upon the caster is transmitted therethrough intermediate said planes by the yokeportion. To insure that the yoke portion shall be of sufficient strength to carry the loads'imposed upon the same, said yoke portion at the forward portion thereof and intermediate the planes including the stem and roller shaft axes, is bent upwardly to form a head 25, said bead portion as shown clearly in Fig. 2 being The washer 20 is shown I Thus the caster'stem and the yoke" thus increased and in super-posed 1 relation and are positioned intermediate the parallel planes including the stem axis and the roller shaft axis.

While the upwardly extending bead 25 and. the downwardly extending and curved apron 26 are shown in'Fig. l positioned .upon the front portion of the yoke 12, it

will be understood that the samemay be positioned upon the rearward portionin ad-.

dition thereto, as shown in Fig. 4. When the roller shaft axis and the stem axis bear the relation to :cach other as indicated in Fig. 1, such reinforcing members preferably are positioned upon the frontportion only exceptin .exceptional cases; when the same may be formed upon both front and rear portion of the caster yoke, as shown in Fig. 4. This construct on heretofore descrlbed reinforces the yoke portion so that the crushing effect of the load upon the caster or metal of the forward portion of, the yoke is provided for by the reinforcement. V

The upper portion of the caster stem 17 is suitably rounded to provide a ball or' head portion 27. and reduced to form a neck portion 28 between the longitudinal body. portion and the rounded head portion. The socket associated with .the caster hereinbefore described comprises a cylindrical body portion 29 having a rounded end 30 against which the rounded head portion 27 .of the caster stem bears when the head is placed upon the caster. A circularfiange plate or track plate 31 is'provided with bolt or screw receiving openings 32,by-which the plate, may be secured to theleg of a piano or other articles of furniture. Thetrack plate 31 is positioned upon the socket 29 by the'same having a bead portion 33 swaged adjacent thereto. The socket portion 29 extends inwardly and engages the reduced neck por- If desired this construction maybe extended so that an inwardly extending neck engaging collar tion 28 of thecaster stem.

would be formedin thesocket; The notches 37., form-a chamber 38 adapted to receive the ball or rounded head portion. 27 of the caster stern, and said chamber is further adapted to receive a heavy lubricant such as Vaseline or. the like.

The invention claimed is: V

..1. A caster including a roller and yoke,

including a pair of ears rotatably supporting said roller, said yoke including an upwardly extending bead portion'intermediate the ear portions and extending transversely thereof, w

2. A'caster'includinga stem, a'ro'llerand a 'yoke,"including' a pair of cars rotatably supporting a roller, said yoke including an upwardly extending bead portion,'-and a downwardly extending apron portion posi tioned between said-earsand independently thereof, said head versely of said ears.

8. A caster including a roller, and, a substantially rectangular yoke, including a depending pair'of ears rotatablyysupporting said roller, said yoke including a clownwardly extending apron positioned between P n ;extending. tr r said ear portions and integral therewith and the yoke portion for reinforcing the latter,- said apron being of archformation with the greatest cross section intermediate its ends. 4. A caster construction, including 1n com bination a*caster stem,a roller, a substantially rectangular yoke including a pair of ears depending from opposite sides of said rectangular yoke and rotatably supporting the roller, m eans depending from the other sides of said-rectangular yoke intermediate the ears of the yoke to form a rectangular chamber, a rectangular washer nested in said chamber and substantially filling the same forsecuring the stem' to said yoke, said washer lying against'said' yoke to-reinforce the same, and ahead portion upon theupper face of'said yokeand extendingtransversely of the. ears for reinforcing-said yoke.

5. A caster construction, including in combination a caster stem, a roller, a substantiallyrectangular yoke including a 'pairof ears depending from opposite'sides of said rectangular yoke and rotatably supporting the roller, means depending from the other sides of said rectangular yoke intermediate the ears of the yoketo forma rectangular chamber, said means being integral Withthe ears and with the'yoke to reinforce the yoke, a rectangular washer nested in said chamber and substantially filling thesaine for securing thestem to said yoke, said washer lying against'saidyoke to reinforce the same, and ahead portion upon'the upper face of said yoke and extending transversely of 'the ears for reinforcing said yoke. T

In witness whereofpl have hereunto af fixeamy signature.

.- 4 Nolan-TING; 

